IT/Procedures/Printer Maintenance/Configure Printer Driver-Model

Configure Printer Driver/Model

Out of the box, the printers get a default driver assigned.

This is fine, as long as you don't need certain profiles/functions, e.g. duplex printing, CMYK.

Not every driver/model seems to work well.

Recommended drivers

• MG3670: Canon MG3600 series - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.3.3
• MX922: Canon MX920 series - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.3.3
• E4200: ?

Check if attributes ColorModel and Duplex are available with lpoptions -p [PRINTER_NAME] -l | grep [...]

add/modify printer driver in the CUPS WebUI

• on the msgcnx server
  • open CUPS webUI at http://localhost:631
  • alternative: forward the port to your local host over ssh
  • alternative: allow access to CUPS webUI from other hosts (not recommended)

• open the tab "Printers"
• check if your printer is listed there
• if yes
  • click on it
  • select "Modify Printer" in the dropdown

• if no
  • switch to the tab "Administration"
  • click "Add Printer"

• select "Internet Printing Protocol (ipp), click "Continue"
• enter the ipp address of the printer (ipp://IP), click "Continue"
• set the name and location if needed, click "Continue"
• select the driver you want, click

add/modify printer driver with lpadmin / future automation

Installing a MG3670 printer with lpadmin, would look e.g. like this:

lpadmin -p [PRINTER_NAME] -E -v ipp://[PRINTER_IP] -m gutenprint.5.3://bjc-MG3600-series

https://www.cups.org/doc/admin.html

As it seems, Gutenprint drivers/models are generated "on the fly", so the path parameter must be given as: gutenprint.5.3://[DRIVER/MODEL_NAME]

This would allow to e.g. create a (Ansible) script for quick setup of new printers.

Driver/Model Names

To get the driver/model name, a ppd file of an existing printer can be searched:

sudo cat /etc/cups/ppd/[EXISTING_PRINTER_NAME].ppd | grep StpDriverName

In theory, lpinfo --make-and-model [PRINTER_MODEL_NAME] should search for matching printer drivers and print out the driver path (didn't get this to work, perhaps because the lpinfo -m bug, see troubleshooting)

Known Model Names

• MG3670: bjc-MG3600-series
• MX922: bjc-MX920-series
• E4200: bjc-E3100-series

Troubleshooting

in CUPS WebUI or lpinfo -m: unable to get list of printer drivers, sucess

• there seems to be a fancy bug https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/276736/cups-adding-printer-fails-with-unable-to-get-list-of-printer-drivers-success
• so far, reloading the page immediately after the error message shows worked for me
• if anyone has time, go for it to to fix this! :)